Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 244 / Thursday, December 19, 2024 / Notices 103857 

Georgia 

Our review found that 4 of the 13 

CBRS units in Georgia require changes 

due to natural forces. The imagery that 

we used for this review and the revised 

maps is dated 2021. 

GA–05P: ALTAMAHA/WOLF 

ISLANDS. We modified the coincident 

boundary between Units GA–05P and 

N03 to account for accretion at the 

northern tip of Little St. Simons Island. 

N03: LITTLE ST. SIMONS ISLAND. 

We modified the coincident boundary 

between Units GA–05P and N03 to 

account for accretion at the northern tip 

of Little St. Simons Island. 

N06: CUMBERLAND ISLAND. Unit 

N06 has five discrete segments, but 

modifications to account for natural 

changes were only necessary in the 

southernmost segment. We modified the 

coincident boundary between Units N06 

and N06P along Beach Creek near its 

confluence with Cumberland Sound to 

account for natural changes in the 

shoreline. 

N06P: CUMBERLAND ISLAND. Unit 

N06P has six discrete segments, but 

modifications to account for natural 

changes were only necessary in the 

southernmost segment. We modified the 

coincident boundary between Units N06 

and N06P along Beach Creek near its 

confluence with Cumberland Sound to 

account for natural changes in the 

shoreline. 

Louisiana 

Our review found that 3 of the 15 

CBRS units in Louisiana that were 

included in this review (Units LA–03P, 

LA–04P, LA–05P, LA–07, LA–08P, LA– 

09, LA–10, S01, S01A, S02, S03, S08, 

S09, S10, and S11) required changes 

due to natural forces. The imagery that 

we used for this review and the revised 

maps is dated 2021. 

We did not assess the remaining six 

Louisiana units as part of this review 

because we prepared revised maps for 

them through a separate comprehensive 

mapping project. We transmitted those 

maps to Congress in 2016, and they 

were awaiting adoption through 

legislation at the time we conducted our 

review. The revised maps for the 

remaining six units were adopted by 

Pub. L. 118–117 on November 25, 2024. 

LA–05P: MARSH ISLAND/RAINEY. 

We modified the boundary of the unit 

to account for wetland erosion along 

Vermilion Bay and West Cote Blanche 

Bay. Due to the significant rate of 

erosion in this area, we generalized 

some of the boundary (i.e., simplified it 

so that the map is clear, and the 

boundary is not overly detailed). 

LA–10: CALCASIEU PASS. We 

modified a portion of the northern 

boundary of the unit to account for 

wetland erosion along West Cove. Due 

to the significant rate of erosion in this 

area, we generalized some of the 

boundary (i.e., simplified it so that the 

map is clear, and the boundary is not 

overly detailed). 

S10: MERMENTAU RIVER. We 

modified the southern boundary of the 

excluded area at the western end of the 

unit to account for shoreline erosion 

along the Gulf of Mexico. 

Maine 

Our review found that none of the 34 

CBRS units in Maine need to be 

modified due to changes from natural 

forces. The imagery that we used for this 

review and the revised maps is dated 

2021. 

New York (Great Lakes) 

Our review found that 1 of the 21 

CBRS units in the Great Lakes region of 

New York (the only CBRS units in New 

York that were part of this review) 

required changes due to natural forces. 

The imagery that we used for this 

review and the revised maps is dated 

2022. 

We did not assess the CBRS units in 

the Long Island region of New York as 

part of this review because we prepared 

revised maps for them through a 

separate comprehensive mapping 

project. We transmitted those maps to 

Congress in 2022, and they were 

awaiting adoption through legislation at 

the time we conducted our review. The 

revised maps for the remaining six units 

were adopted by Public Law 118–117 on 

November 25, 2024. 

NY–62: GRENADIER ISLAND. We 

modified the eastern lateral boundary of 

the unit to account for the accretion of 

a sand spit that has migrated outside the 

unit. 

Availability of Final Maps and Related 

Information 

The final revised maps dated 

December 29, 2023, can be accessed and 

downloaded from our website at https:// 

www.fws.gov/cbra. The boundaries are 

available for viewing in the CBRS 

Mapper. Additionally, a shapefile and 

Web Map Service (WMS) of the 

boundaries, which can be used with GIS 

software, are available online. These 

data are best viewed using the base 

imagery to which the boundaries were 

drawn; the base imagery sources and 

dates are included in the metadata for 

the digital boundaries and are also 

printed on the official maps. We are not 

responsible for any misuse or 

misinterpretation of the shapefile or 

WMS. 

Interested parties may also contact the 

individual identified in FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT, above, to make 

arrangements to view the final maps at 

our Headquarters office. Interested 

parties who are unable to access the 

maps via the website or at our 

Headquarters office may contact the 

individual identified in FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT, above, and 

reasonable accommodations will be 

made. 

Authority 

Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA; 

16 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Ya-Wei Li, 

Assistant Director for Ecological Services. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29644 Filed 12–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4333–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[256A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A501010.999900] 

HEARTH Act Approval of Kickapoo 

Tribe of Oklahoma, Business Leasing 

Ordinance 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA) approved the Kickapoo Tribe of 

Oklahoma Business Leasing Ordinance 

under the Helping Expedite and 

Advance Responsible Tribal 

Homeownership Act of 2012 (HEARTH 

Act). With this approval, the Tribe is 

authorized to enter into agriculture, 

business, residential, wind and solar, 

public, religious, and recreational leases 

without further BIA approval. 

DATES: BIA issued the approval on 

December 16, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Carla Clark, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Division of Real Estate Services, 1001 

Indian School Road NW, Albuquerque, 

NM 87104, carla.clark@bia.gov, (702) 

484–3233. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Summary of the HEARTH Act 

The HEARTH Act makes a voluntary, 

alternative land leasing process 

available to Tribes, by amending the 

Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955, 

25 U.S.C. 415. The HEARTH Act 

authorizes Tribes to negotiate and enter 

into business leases of Tribal trust lands 

with a primary term of 25 years, and up 

to two renewal terms of 25 years each, 

without the approval of the Secretary of 


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103858 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 244 / Thursday, December 19, 2024 / Notices 

the Interior (Secretary). The HEARTH 

Act also authorizes Tribes to enter into 

leases for residential, recreational, 

religious or educational purposes for a 

primary term of up to 75 years without 

the approval of the Secretary. 

Participating Tribes develop Tribal 

Leasing regulations, including an 

environmental review process, and then 

must obtain the Secretary’s approval of 

those regulations prior to entering into 

leases. The HEARTH Act requires the 

Secretary to approve Tribal regulations 

if the Tribal regulations are consistent 

with the Department of the Interior’s 

(Department) leasing regulations at 25 

CFR part 162 and provide for an 

environmental review process that 

meets requirements set forth in the 

HEARTH Act. This notice announces 

that the Secretary, through the Assistant 

Secretary—Indian Affairs, has approved 

the Tribal regulations for the Kickapoo 

Tribe of Oklahoma. 

II. Federal Preemption of State and 

Local Taxes 

The Department’s regulations 

governing the surface leasing of trust 

and restricted Indian lands specify that, 

subject to applicable Federal law, 

permanent improvements on leased 

land, leasehold or possessory interests, 

and activities under the lease are not 

subject to State and local taxation and 

may be subject to taxation by the Indian 

Tribe with jurisdiction. See 25 CFR 

162.017. As explained further in the 

preamble to the final regulations, the 

Federal government has a strong interest 

in promoting economic development, 

self-determination, and Tribal 

sovereignty. 77 FR 72440, 72447–48 

(December 5, 2012). The principles 

supporting the Federal preemption of 

State law in the field of Indian leasing 

and the taxation of lease-related 

interests and activities applies with 

equal force to leases entered into under 

Tribal leasing regulations approved by 

the Federal government pursuant to the 

HEARTH Act. 

Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization 

Act, 25 U.S.C. 5108, preempts State and 

local taxation of permanent 

improvements on trust land. 

Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 

Reservation v. Thurston County, 724 

F.3d 1153, 1157 (9th Cir. 2013) (citing 

Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 

U.S. 145 (1973)). Similarly, section 5108 

preempts State taxation of rent 

payments by a lessee for leased trust 

lands, because ‘‘tax on the payment of 

rent is indistinguishable from an 

impermissible tax on the land.’’ See 

Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Stranburg, 

799 F.3d 1324, 1331, n.8 (11th Cir. 

2015). In addition, as explained in the 

preamble to the revised leasing 

regulations at 25 CFR part 162, Federal 

courts have applied a balancing test to 

determine whether State and local 

taxation of non-Indians on the 

reservation is preempted. White 

Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 

U.S. 136, 143 (1980). The Bracker 

balancing test, which is conducted 

against a backdrop of ‘‘traditional 

notions of Indian self-government,’’ 

requires a particularized examination of 

the relevant State, Federal, and Tribal 

interests. We hereby adopt the Bracker 

analysis from the preamble to the 

surface leasing regulations, 77 FR at 

72,447–48, as supplemented by the 

analysis below. 

The strong Federal and Tribal 

interests against State and local taxation 

of improvements, leaseholds, and 

activities on land leased under the 

Department’s leasing regulations apply 

equally to improvements, leaseholds, 

and activities on land leased pursuant to 

Tribal leasing regulations approved 

under the HEARTH Act. Congress’s 

overarching intent was to ‘‘allow Tribes 

to exercise greater control over their 

own land, support self-determination, 

and eliminate bureaucratic delays that 

stand in the way of homeownership and 

economic development in Tribal 

communities.’’ 158 Cong. Rec. H. 2682 

(May 15, 2012). The HEARTH Act was 

intended to afford Tribes ‘‘flexibility to 

adapt lease terms to suit [their] business 

and cultural needs’’ and to ‘‘enable 

[Tribes] to approve leases quickly and 

efficiently.’’ H. Rep. 112–427 at 6 

(2012). 

Assessment of State and local taxes 

would obstruct these express Federal 

policies supporting Tribal economic 

development and self-determination, 

and also threaten substantial Tribal 

interests in effective Tribal government, 

economic self-sufficiency, and territorial 

autonomy. See Michigan v. Bay Mills 

Indian Community, 572 U.S. 782, 810 

(2014) (Sotomayor, J., concurring) 

(determining that ‘‘[a] key goal of the 

Federal Government is to render Tribes 

more self-sufficient, and better 

positioned to fund their own sovereign 

functions, rather than relying on Federal 

funding’’). The additional costs of State 

and local taxation have a chilling effect 

on potential lessees, as well as on a 

Tribe that, as a result, might refrain from 

exercising its own sovereign right to 

impose a Tribal tax to support its 

infrastructure needs. See id. at 810–11 

(finding that State and local taxes 

greatly discourage Tribes from raising 

tax revenue from the same sources 

because the imposition of double 

taxation would impede Tribal economic 

growth). 

Similar to BIA’s surface leasing 

regulations, Tribal regulations under the 

HEARTH Act pervasively cover all 

aspects of leasing. See 25 U.S.C. 

415(h)(3)(B)(i) (requiring Tribal 

regulations be consistent with BIA 

surface leasing regulations). 

Furthermore, the Federal government 

remains involved in the Tribal land 

leasing process by approving the Tribal 

leasing regulations in the first instance 

and providing technical assistance, 

upon request by a Tribe, for the 

development of an environmental 

review process. The Secretary also 

retains authority to take any necessary 

actions to remedy violations of a lease 

or of the Tribal regulations, including 

terminating the lease or rescinding 

approval of the Tribal regulations and 

reassuming lease approval 

responsibilities. Moreover, the Secretary 

continues to review, approve, and 

monitor individual Indian land leases 

and other types of leases not covered 

under the Tribal regulations according 

to 25 CFR part 162. 

Accordingly, the Federal and Tribal 

interests weigh heavily in favor of 

preemption of State and local taxes on 

lease-related activities and interests, 

regardless of whether the lease is 

governed by Tribal leasing regulations 

or 25 CFR part 162. Improvements, 

activities, and leasehold or possessory 

interests may be subject to taxation by 

the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma. 

Bryan Newland, 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2024–30292 Filed 12–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4337–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

[256A2100DD/AAKC001030/ 

A0A51010.999900] 

Fiscal Year 2024 List of Programs 

Eligible for Inclusion in Funding 

Agreements Negotiated With SelfGovernance Tribes by Interior Bureaus 

Other Than the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs; Fiscal Year 2025 Programmatic 

Targets 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Indian SelfDetermination and Education 

Assistance Act (Act), as amended, for 

each of the Department of the Interior 

(Department) bureaus other than the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, this notice lists 

programs or portions of programs 

eligible for inclusion in self-governance 


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